As the mother of 3 children I always knew that the day would come when my oldest was interested in dating. We had the "talk", we had discussed drugs and alcohol and everything else that I had always thought was necessary. What we'd never really discussed was dating. He enrolled in college, got a good job and I assumed he just didn't have time for dating. I figured he'd let us know when he found someone he was interested in. Well, sure enough, he found a girl he liked alright -- and few weeks later MARRIED her. In talking to him about proper behavior, sexual promiscuity, etc. we had discussed waiting until marriage. What we hadn't planned on was him marrying the first girl that came along so he could have sex. Why on earth the girls mother gave consent is beyond me. If the walls could speak what a story they'd tell of the day my 18-year-old excited, blissfully, blindly happy son brought his new "wife" home to introduce her to us. Of course, his marriage failed and he now can sit back and laugh over his reasoning, but you'd better believe we learned by our mistake. We've now discussed many aspects of relationships along with the other essentials with his younger brother and sister. They are now both involved with "dating" and we sure hope to avoid any further teen marriages.